Batman And Robin: The Glove episode I
by Legend Atticus
Summary: Gotham city is in turmoil. Insanity seems to reign as Batman and Robin are plunged through this adventure. This craziness was brought to you by the Riddler and the Joker, among others...
1. Leaving

Batman: The Glove Chapter 1  
  
"Master Bruce?"  
  
Bruce Wayne swung around, recognizing the calm, impenetrable voice of his trusted servant, Alfred. Alfred was holding his costume out on a tray, along with a glass of lemonade.  
  
"Thank you, Alfred. I know, it's time to go. Where's Robin?"  
  
"Master Dick is waiting in the cave. I'll be standing by on the computers. You know what you have to do, no sense in telling you again. Be careful, Master Bruce."  
  
Bruce Wayne allowed himself a slight grin as he left towards the cave, already half-changed, glass of lemonade in hand. "Aren't I always?"  
  
As he watched Bruce disappear into a doorway, Alfred heaved a sigh. Yes, another one of those days. Perhaps he needed that lemonade more than Bruce did. And he could definitely use it spiked.  
  
"It's 'bout time," Robin snorted as Batman entered the cave. "What took you so long?"  
  
"Enough, Robin. We have business to take care of tonight. And it's local, too. No jet. You can use the practice."  
  
Robin sighed as he followed Batman out one of the many hidden entrances from the cave.  
  
OK, let's recap, Batman thought as they swung through Gotham city towards one specific building. How did it all come to this?  
  
In theory it was simple. The Joker and the Riddler had made an alliance, and from there, all Hell broke loose. After all, that was the logical result of those two pairing up for a night on the town. And that's exactly what happened after their night on the town. Only problem was that it had been several successive nights on the town.  
  
And the logical result of that was not only all Hell breaking loose, but all Heaven crumbling down after it. And all Earth blowing up, and all...  
  
But no, that's all that happened. In fact, that wasn't even the cause.  
  
Stop trying to fool yourself, Bruce! He told himself sternly, furiously. It can't change anything that happened...or anything that's going to happen.  
  
A cult had gone crazy downtown, a mysterious glove had resurfaced, a vampire had come to Gotham for a reckoning, and rumors abounded. Rumors tend to abound when several large buildings collapse and burn and kill a hundred or so people, after all.  
  
All of which means this is going to be one interesting night... 


	2. Musing

Robin, the Boy Wonder, watched his partner as they flew through Gotham City. Whenever he saw Bruce don the costume, it was like seeing a phoenix get reborn. He was almost a different person.  
  
But tonight, Bruce was way too quiet as they did their usual dance of swinging and landing and swinging off again. Every time they landed and perched for just a moment, he would get this quiet intensity about himself that Robin found too intimidating to interrupt. Batman would take his time before launching off again, and it seemed like he was lost in a day-dream.  
  
Of course, Robin would know all about day-dreaming. Even though school was out for the weekend, it was only two days ago he had to sit in Math class.  
  
After a long trip, they landed on top of a billboard. "Gotham City: A Fun Place To Live And Work!" Robin wouldn't have laughed, except that the billboard had some quite visible scorch marks on it, which nicely accented the all-too-decorative bullet holes.  
  
As it was, he chuckled to himself as they landed, instantly snapping Batman out of his trance.  
  
"What? What is it? Robin?"  
  
"Nothing. You just sorta dozed off, there."  
  
"Right. Well, that's the place."  
  
He motioned towards the huge building that stood on the opposite side of the street. They were quite nearly at street level, and being this low in costume made Robin slightly uncomfortable. He noticed the bottom three levels of the building was a parking garage.  
  
He looked inquisitively at his mentor, who just shook his head and lead the way inside. 


	3. Arriving

"Perfect."  
  
A dark figure watched as the two heroes swung inside the parking levels of the building. Long hair flowed behind it in the wind, but it was male in every sense of the word.  
  
Long fingernails, black and chipped, hung off his bony hands. He had evident muscle, but it was the other aspects of his appearance that made him apparently dangerous at first sight. He had a ragged cape, but wore no shirt. His trousers were torn and dirty, dried blood decorating it in blotches. His hair was shockingly white, and his skin was pale enough to nearly match. His teeth were all somehow sharp and pointed, and His bare chest boasted muscle and an odd tattoo that resembled a spider. His face was criss-crossed with scars and black paint.  
  
Looking at all of this, someone would think they had just entered some sort of horror movie.  
  
The truth is, if someone was looking at all of this, they really would have entered some sort of horror movie. To their own misfortune.  
  
Though it looked like something straight out of the medieval ages, he held a modern crossbow, equipped with laser sighting and a top-grade telescope. He was that very telescope he had just used to watch as Batman and Robin entered the building.  
  
Attaching the crossbow to the belt it wore, the thing jumped.  
  
It jumped off of the roof of a skyscraper, plummeting down. He caught on a lower roof and pulled himself up. The he jumped across a busy road and landed on another roof. Then he jumped thirty feet up to land on another roof, a higher roof. Then it jumped...  
  
Eventually, he made his way to the building Batman and Robin had just entered. He waited a god five minutes before stepping inside, ever so quietly. He unhooked his crossbow and kept it at the ready.  
  
He inhaled deeply, silently. He had pin-pointed Batman's position by his scent, and knew Robin was close by. He set himself up in a comfortable position behind a car and waited, smelling for any sort of movement and listening for any sort of sound... 


	4. Watching

It was a dark and gloomy place, but then so was the Batcave. In fact, Bruce Wayne had spent most of time in dark and gloomy places. Just look at Gotham City itself.  
  
Water drops echoed off the walls as they stalked inside, ever so quietly. Being on only the second floor, Batman felt slightly unprotected, but he knew it was necessary. And he also knew that what was about to happen had to be stopped if he was to get a handle on this whole affair...  
  
He found a suitably dark corner and waited while Robin glowered behind a car. He waited, with his every sense alert, wanting desperately to leave and just run away, but knowing that he would not, that he could not. That he should not was of little consequence.  
  
Twenty-odd minutes later, a car drove up the ramp onto the second level where Batman sat waiting. It drove slowly, making little noise, but what noise it did make sounded ten times louder as it replaced the engulfing silence.  
  
Batman had hoped his information was incorrect, but apparently, the situation could only get worse. That car was full of drugs. Bane had finally shown his hand in this Gotham madness.  
  
He sighed inwardly and waited for whoever was buying them to show up. He needed to wait for just the right moment to attack, just wait until they were close enough that he and Robin could surround them and take away the cargo. Just until-  
  
His thoughts were interrupted as a crossbow bolt thudded into his side, putting him asleep because of what it was coated in. As he dozed off, he saw robin was already sprawled on the floor. He tried to use his remaining to talk, but that only sent him away faster.  
  
In about ten seconds, it was over. Batman and Robin were both asleep on the floor, bleeding and snoring peacefully.  
  
A figure holding a crossbow dragged them both to the waiting car and dumped them inside. As it was getting in, the figure was hit by a crossbow. The driver screamed a few curses and drove off like madness. The one who was hit was dead instantly.  
  
Another figure holding another crossbow went to inspect his prey. White hair flew out behind it as it knelt down, making it's odd tattoo seem to glow... 


End file.
